


Never Gonna Give You Up

by Lisamc21



Series: Songs and Moments [1]
Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Patrick Brewer is a Troll, Patrick Brewer loves David Rose, Songfic, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, business partners to friends to lovers, trolling as a love language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:00:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26218261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lisamc21/pseuds/Lisamc21
Summary: This is the first in a series of short fics written around songs.About the ficIn this, David and Patrick are business partners but nothing more (yet). Like in the show, the flirting is heavy and they're working toward finally making it happen. In this, they make it happen.About the seriesEach piece is inspired by one or more songs. They're each standalone and not intended to be read in any specific order, nor do they follow a specific path of David and Patrick's relationship. They're a collection of moments and events that, in my head, could maybe happen between them.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Series: Songs and Moments [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1904128
Comments: 34
Kudos: 106





	Never Gonna Give You Up

“I can’t believe you dragged me to an open mic night.” David frowned over his cheap glass of house red. But he could believe it. Patrick Brewer, his business partner and crush, had asked. So David went.

Patrick smirked as he took a sip of his tea. “I’m pretty sure you got in my car willingly, but if you’d like me to play along with the idea that I forcibly made you come—“ he paused, eyes on David’s face “—here, I can do that.” His smile was saccharine, but his eyes danced devilishly in the low light of the dive bar. 

Their flirting was out of control, and it was going to kill David. Kill him through embarrassment when he finally made a move to kiss Patrick, and he gently turned him down. Kill him with a heart attack and the stress of not doing anything about the flirting. Or kill him with crippling self doubt if Patrick kissed back. David had finally begun to enjoy his time on Earth and wasn’t ready to die, but there were worse ways to go than death by Patrick’s lips.

Jesus. He’d only had half a glass of wine. Those thoughts were fucking morose.

“What are you singing tonight?” David hoped his tone conveyed a respectful amount of interest. He’d spent the entire drive to Elmdale harassing Patrick about making him come along on the trip, but secretly he was thrilled. Thrilled and terrified. Hopefully, his inviting Stevie and Alexis would help with the terror. 

A flicker of doubt passed over Patrick’s features so quickly David almost missed it, but it was immediately replaced with the casual cockiness he had grown to love about Patrick. Playful, cocky, and downright irresistible. “It’s a surprise.”

David rolled his eyes. “Great. That’s not embarrassing at all. If you sing a country song, so help me God, I’m making Stevie and Alexis drive me back.”

Patrick laughed, then froze. “Stevie and Alexis?” His eyes grew wide.

David grimaced. “Um, did I forget to mention I invited them?” He looked to the ceiling for a moment. “Alexis has been really bummed about Ted and Stevie has been talking about looking for randoms, and I thought they’d like to support you?” he finished lamely. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think- I should’ve asked.” He thought it was two friends-slash-business partners going out. What would two more friends hurt? It had been easier to invite them to help him skip the disappointment that it wasn’t the date he’d hoped for a million times.

Patrick’s expression softened at the last. “Yeah, okay. Yeah. That’s okay.” 

It didn’t sound okay, but David couldn’t pinpoint why. “I’m not your only friend in town, you know.” David playfully hit Patrick’s shoulder. “A one-person cheer squad is kind of lame. Just think about how much more raucous three people will be when you win the competition tonight.”

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked up at David under his long eyelashes. “Yeah, I guess. Good point.”

David stomach did a somersault. He felt like he’d fucked up but didn’t know why. “They’re not here yet. I can call and ask them to turn around if that’s too much?” His voice had jumped up an octave or two. “I’m sorry, I just thought—“

Patrick put a hand on David’s forearm. The contact instantly soothed him. Patrick had touched him fourteen times, not including the passing brushes. He counted the deliberate ones and had damn near journaled about each one. In one evening of desperation, he’d nearly started a fucking spreadsheet to list them. The deliberate ones sustained him during the times he allowed himself to fantasize about a version of his life where Patrick liked him just as much as he liked Patrick.

“Hey, it’s okay. I appreciate a good cheer squad.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but he didn’t. “I’d better finish my honey tea. I’ll switch to the good stuff after I sing. Have a beer waiting for me?” 

David nodded vigorously. “Of course.” Half his mouth turned up. He didn’t need to ask what kind. He knew. He paid attention every time they’d gone out. Casual dinners after work. Drinks to decompress after a long week. A night out with Stevie. He knew the kind of beer Patrick liked, just like Patrick knew what drinks David liked. The foods, the snacks. 

Stevie, the person David thought knew him best, would have no idea that David liked a sprinkle of cocoa powder in his coffee. Patrick did though.

They smiled at each other as they took sips of their drinks.

“David!” Alexis shrieked from across the bar. Okay, maybe inviting her had been a mistake. “Patrick! Are you ready to crush this competition? Your cute button face is going to win this.” She booped Patrick on the nose.

He chuckled. “I hope my vocal and guitar skills will do that for me.” His cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink as he glanced at David. 

David was about seventy percent proactively embarrassed and thirty percent excited to hear him. He’d only heard Patrick sing under his breath a few times in the store, and that one time David had arrived at the store early to find Patrick singing at the top of his lungs in the back room while he organized stock. He truly had an incredible voice.

“David. Patrick.” Stevie nodded at them both, then bypassed them to sit at the bar. She waved the bartender down.

David and Patrick shared a look and smiled over their drinks. 

All armed with drinks, they made their way to an empty booth. Patrick insisted on one in the middle when David tried to navigate them to one in the corner where he could stay invisible.

“What’s the point of having a cheer squad here if I can’t see them while I sing?” Patrick said casually, but his gaze was intense. David felt the weight of it on his body.

He cleared his throat. “Um, yeah. Good point.” He slid into one side of the booth and Patrick sat next to him. Stevie sat across from David and Alexis across from Patrick. Both women watched him over their drinks, creases in the corners of their eyes. He didn’t like that imbalanced social dynamic. He should make Patrick and Alexis switch spots.

The first act took the stage. A middle-aged woman absolutely butchered an Adele song. David cringed so hard through it, he worried his face would get stuck that way.

Patrick said he was fifth on the line-up. During the next couple of songs, David noticed that Patrick’s thumb had begun nervously tapping against the table. During the fourth song, Patrick’s knee bounced so much it nearly made David motion sick. 

He reached under the table and put his hand on Patrick’s knee. For a moment, he allowed himself to wonder if there was an alternate reality where Patrick counted David’s touches in a spreadsheet. He gently squeezed as far away from his pelvic area as he could manage. A respectful and reassuring hand on the knee. That’s all it was. Patrick’s body immediately calmed at the contact. He whipped his face toward David. 

“Hey, you’re going to be great,” David spoke as quietly as he could over the sound of an older guy singing Journey. He wasn’t bad, but he knew Patrick was better. “I’ve heard you sing before and you’re really good. You’ve got this in the bag.” He tried for his most encouraging smile.

Patrick’s eyes shifted back and forth, as though he was looking between David’s eyes. “Thanks, David. I, um, really hope you like it.” His face flushed. It often flushed when he was drinking, but not tea. He hadn’t had any beer yet. 

“Next up, we have Patrick Brewer.”

Patrick put his hand on top of David’s for a brief moment and squeezed. David had forgotten his hand was on Patrick’s knee. Oh. He’d been distracted by his eyes. Patrick rose from the booth and glanced back at David, flashing a small smile. 

“What was _that_ about?” Stevie asked?

“What?!” He responded in his shrillest tone. “He might have stage fright or something. Performance anxiety is real.” He closed his mouth at the matching amused expressions from Stevie and Alexis.

Patrick reached down and grabbed the guitar he’d placed near the stage when they’d arrived earlier. While Patrick tuned it, David waved down a passing waitress. “Hey, can I get another house red and Redmond Stout. The last is for him, for when he’s done singing.” He hoped the waitress would speed up the delivery, knowing it was for the man about to sing. She nodded, then looked to Stevie and Alexis.

“What do you think he’s going to sing?” Alexis waggled her eyebrows.

“If it’s country, I’m leaving,” Stevie said as she finished her beer.

“That’s exactly what I said.” He nodded his approval at Stevie.

“I’d like to dedicate this song to a very special someone in my life.” Patrick cleared his throat and stared right at David. Through David. Into his soul.

“David, are we crashing a date?”

He didn’t look at Stevie. “Of course you’re not. Patrick and I aren’t dating.”

“We’re no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I. A full commitment’s what I’m thinkin’ of. You wouldn’t get this from any other guy.” Patrick strummed on his guitar and closed his eyes for a moment. David was entranced by his buttery voice. 

“This is a date! Oh my god, David,” Alexis said in the excited tone she usually reserved for getting giddy over famous friends looking at her Insta story.

“Holy shit, he has a great voice,” Stevie added.

“Mm.” David propped his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand.  
Patrick’s eye contact with David deepened, as though he were steeling himself. “I just wanna tell you how I’m feelin’. Gotta make you understand.”

He couldn’t place the song in Patrick’s folksy style, but the lyrics sounded familiar. His brain told him to focus on the words Patrick was singing. At him? Maybe? To him? Fuck.

“Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around and desert you.”  
David’s jaw dropped.

“Oh my God, David! He’s, like, singing to you.” Alexis giggled. 

“He’s fucking Rick Rolling you!” Stevie slammed her hand on the table. 

David could barely hear Patrick over her laughs. 

“Never gonna make you cry. Never gonna say goodbye. Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.”

Logically, he knew this was a Rick Roll and Patrick Brewer was a fucking troll. But those lyrics. They tugged at something in him. He studied Patrick’s face and looked for any sign that Patrick was teasing. That he was singing a slow, acoustic version of a Rick Astley jam as a long con trolling game. But he didn’t see any sign of Patrick’s facial ticks that indicated teasing. The quirk of his mouth, crinkles around his eyes. All David saw was raw emotion. A mirror of what David felt inside. What David had felt every day for weeks and weeks and weeks. 

“We’ve known each other for so long. Your heart’s been aching, but you’re too shy to say it.” Patrick didn’t take his eyes off David. 

The waitress deposited drinks in front of him. “Thanks,” he mumbled, but he couldn’t stop looking at Patrick.

“Inside we both know what’s been goin’ on. We know the game and we’re gonna play it.” Patrick moved back from the microphone to play his guitar for a bit. He smiled at David and it was like looking into a solar eclipse. 

“Holy shit, David.”

He didn’t need to look at Stevie to know that she was just as shocked as he was. He couldn’t look away from Patrick. Didn’t want to. 

Patrick had managed to slowly and methodically strip him of all of his defenses, culminating in a fucking Rick Rolling and serenade? How was he even real?

“David, I know you’ve been doubting every obvious sign that Patrick’s into you, but you can’t deny this.”

“I know, Alexis. I know.” He did, didn’t he. And what the fuck was he going to do about it?

David studied Patrick’s face, his voice, the way his thick fingers moved effortlessly over the guitar chords. He wanted to keep the memory with him forever. No matter what happened, he could keep this and know it was real. Whatever happened next or in the future or when Patrick eventually tired of him, he’d always have this.

Patrick played the last chord and stepped back from the mic. His smile was shy as the room erupted in applause. David, Stevie and Alexis did their duty as the loudest cheer squad in the room.

He watched Patrick put his guitar back in its case as the host introduced the next act. He watched Patrick turn around and lock eyes with David. He watched as Patrick walked toward him. His body language was tense, but his eyes were… hopeful? 

“Hey, Stevie, I need to go to the bathroom. Can you join me?”

“Mmhmm, yup. Buddy system.” 

David felt Stevie lean across the table. “Don’t you fuck this up, Rose.” 

“I won’t,” he whispered. He wouldn’t. Couldn’t. Not when the gift he wanted more than anything was basically wrapped in a bow.

Patrick didn’t break eye contact with David as Stevie and Alexis complimented his performance and made their escape. He’d need to give them wine later.

Patrick slid into the booth next to David, looking at his hands. He radiated uncertainty. All the confidence drained from him as soon as he got into David’s orbit.

Okay. David inhaled. Patrick had made the first move. David could carry it across the end net, or whatever sportsball reference Patrick would use.

David pushed the beer in front of Patrick and he watched Patrick’s fingers wrap around the sweating glass.

“That was—“

Patrick looked up at David. “It was what?” Patrick’s breaths were shallow.

He could do this. He could do it. He needed to try. Had to. He _wanted_ to.

“Perfect.” David leaned forward and closed his eyes. He couldn’t stand to watch if Patrick rejected him. A moment passed, two moments. Oh, god. Patrick was probably just staring at him. Mouth ajar and eyes closed and looking like he wanted to be kissed but not getting kissed.

His eyes popped open. Patrick’s face was right there. _Right_ there. His hands came up to cup David’s face. His pupils were blown. “David.” He pulled David’s lips against his.

Patrick’s lips were soft and the kiss tender. A kiss that managed to break him down and rebuild him as a stronger, better man. David wanted to feel them forever. If a chaste kiss was that great, he couldn’t imagine what a little tongue would do. With a sigh, he pulled back. Their faces were still close enough that he could feel Patrick’s breath on his. It smelled faintly of honey from his earlier tea.

“Wow.”

David grinned at that. Wow was a good reaction. He’d take wow. “I could say the same thing about your performance.”

Patrick smiled. It was slow and sweet as it grew. “You liked it, huh?”

David’s heart pounded in his chest. “Either that was the world’s most epic Rick Rolling or the lyrics… “ He didn’t know how to finish the sentence. 

Patrick ran his thumb across David’s cheek. “Can’t it be both? The lyrics are surprisingly lovely.” His eyes danced with mischief.

“You’re a fucking troll.”

“You love it.”

David kissed him. “I do,” he said against Patrick’s lips. Patrick laughed. 

“It’s about fucking time!” Stevie said.

David pulled his attention from Patrick away in time to see Alexis force Stevie into a high five. “That was the fastest goddamn bathroom trip ever,” he snipped.

“I think my cheer squad just became our cheer squad,” Patrick said.

David groaned. “You’re such a dork.”

“You love it.”

“I do.” 

Patrick kissed him and all felt right in David’s world for the first time. Each puzzle piece falling into place.

As the last two contestants performed, David shifted as close to Patrick as he could get. Their bodies were connected from shoulder to knee, and hands intertwined on Patrick’s lap.

David couldn’t stop smiling. He knew Stevie and Alexis would make him pay for every smile later, but he didn’t care. He felt so. Fucking. Happy. 

“Thank you to all of our performers tonight. It was a tough competition.”

David snorted. “You were ten times better than everyone else.”

Patrick rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek.

“Ew, David.”

“Lick asbestos, Alexis.” His smile belied the bite of his words. She gave him that double blink wink thing.

“Drumroll, please.” The room erupted in half-drunk people pounding their hands on tables. “Tonight’s winner is Patrick Brewer!”

“Eyyyyyy!” David threw his arms in the air. Patrick grabbed his face and planted a kiss on him. David laughed as he kissed Patrick back. He winked at David as he slid out of the booth. He now lived in a world where he could just, like, kiss Patrick Brewer?! David’s hands went up to cup his own cheeks. Patrick had kissed him. He’d kissed Patrick. They’d kissed _each other_. In public. Neither of them had freaked out or stated regrets. They’d _held hands_ in front of Stevie and Alexis.

Oh, my, god. 

“You okay over there?”

David looked over at Stevie. Her smile was huge and knowing. “Mm. Never better.” 

She kicked him under the table. “I like this for you.”

He let out a long breath as he snapped a photo of Patrick accepting his prize. “I like this for me too.”

Patrick made his way back to the table with an envelope in his hand. Several people came over and congratulated Patrick on his vocal prowess. David smugly drank his wine and watched people shower Patrick with well-deserved praise. His Patrick. 

“David, we’re going to head out.” Alexis pointedly looked between the two of them. “Can Patrick bring you home? We don’t have room in our car.”

“No room in Stevie’s four-door car?” He couldn’t help but chuckle as he looked at Patrick.

“I’ll bring him back in one piece.” Patrick winked at David. The wink said _eventually_. 

The waitress brought them another beer and wine, on the house for Patrick’s win. 

“What’s your prize?” David gave his shoulder a shimmy. “Cash? A record deal?”  
Patrick’s cheeks turned that delicious shade of pink again as he handed David the envelope. His attention laser focused on his half-empty beer.

David lifted the flap and pulled out a slip of paper. “One night at the Elmdale Hotel and spa? A suite and spa treatments?” He looked at Patrick, but all he could see was the cascade of images in his mind of exactly how he and Patrick could use that certificate. 

“Good prize?” Patrick managed before taking a swig of his beer.

David narrowed his eyes. “Did you know this was the prize when you signed up and brought me here for a Rick Roll serenade?”

Patrick shrugged, but his smirk was anything but casual. 

“Excuse you, Mr. Brewer. A bit presumptuous.”

Patrick’s wide eyes claimed innocence, but David knew better. 

“You think a sexy acoustic rendition of _Never Gonna Give You Up_ is enough to get me into a hotel room for a night?” David didn’t even fight the smile that broke out on his face.

“Sexy, eh?” Patrick grabbed David’s hand and brought it to his lap as he intertwined their fingers. “No, I think a couple months of getting to know each other, building trust, epic flirting, and slowly crumbling your defenses with my earnest charm, and nice ass, is enough to do that.”

David gulped. “When you put it like that, who am I to argue?” Damn, Patrick was _good_ at that. David had definitely met his match. 

Patrick looked down at their hands. “There’s something you should know though.”

David’s shoulders tensed. _I’m not looking for anything serious. I was hoping we could have a little fun. I think we just need to get this sexual tension out of our system so we can focus on being business partners._ A million terrible things raced through his mind.

“I’m gay.” Patrick paused and frowned. He looked up at David with raw vulnerability. “I _now_ know I’m gay, but, but I—“

David cupped Patrick’s cheek and smiled as Patrick leaned into it like a cat leaning into ear scratches. “It’s okay.” David, and, okay, Stevie and Alexis, had speculated wildly. He got the impression Patrick hadn’t really said it aloud yet.

Patrick let out a breath and nodded. “I’ve never been with a man, or even kissed a man. Before tonight. Before you.”

David pressed his forehead against Patrick’s. “Thank you for choosing me for that honor, Patrick.” David had been an experiment for an army of straight men, but he’d never deliberately been chosen as a first gay experience. It was a heady feeling.

Patrick’s lips found his. The kiss was chaste and full of emotion. “I want more kisses with you. I want more of… everything. But I think I need to go slow.” His honey-whisky eyes blinked up at him. “Is that okay?”

“Of course it’s okay. I’m not going anywhere.” He stared into Patrick’s eyes and willed him to believe that.

Patrick wrapped his arms around David and pulled him in for a tight hug. “Thank you for being you.”

David couldn’t stop the breathy whine that escaped. No one had ever thanked him for that. Jesus. He needed to lighten the mood. “So, um, what’s the expiration date on that gift certificate?”

Patrick’s chest rumbled with laughter. He pressed a kiss to David’s neck, then pulled back. “I should have done this sooner.”

David’s immediate reaction was to agree, but found himself shaking his head. “It happened at just the right time.” Deep down, he knew that was true. He needed the time to get to know Patrick, to develop that trust, and to realize, through Patrick’s affection, that David might be worthy of it after all.

“Can we go make out in my car?”

“I’ll get the tab.” David pushed Patrick out of the booth and smiled at Patrick’s joyful laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm over on Tumblr at [lisamc-21](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/lisamc-21).


End file.
